Brewing Tea in the Office

I drink a liter or more of tea per day, and keep 15 to 30 types of tea at my desk. Over the years, this habit has taught me some tips about brewing tea using a standard hot/cold water dispenser.

Brewing tea requires specific water temperatures and precise steeping times. While you can track steeping time using your smart phone, you cannot dip your smart phone into your cup to see how hot the water is. It's easier to interpret water temperature based on how your tea turns out, then apply what you learn to future cups of tea.

Black Tea
Most black teas are best steeped in near-boiling (195-210°F) water. A typical water dispenser doesn't make water quite this hot, but it comes close. When brewing black tea in the office, swirl hot water in your mug to heat the mug first. Dump that slightly-cooled water out, then immediately add your tea ball and pour fresh hot water right onto the tea. This helps ensure the hottest possible steeping.

Oolong Tea
Oolong is easy to brew in the office; most hot water dispensers produce exactly the right temperature water for it (about 185°F). You'll want to follow the same procedure as for Black Tea, but you can get away without heating your mug first.

White Tea
While a dispenser's water is slightly too hot for white tea, that's ok! You can get the extra heat to transfer to your room-temperature ceramic mug, creating water that is the right temperature; 160-175°F. So - pour the hot water in your mug, wait until the mug is hot to the touch, then add your white-tea-filled tea ball and steep away.

Green Tea
Green tea is difficult to brew even with the right equipment. I've ruined many a cup! Here's one way to avoid overcooking those delicate leaves in the office:

1. Put your green tea in a tea ball in your room-temperature ceramic mug.
2. Pour COLD water into your mug until it is about 1/6 or 1/5 full. Learning exactly how much cold water is right for your mug and your tea may take a few tries.
3. Swirl the cold water around the tea ball, soaking the tea. This helps protect the tea against the near-boiling water you're about to add.
4. Pour HOT water into the mug, filling it the rest of the way, making sure to aim the stream of water away from the tea ball.
5. The green tea should now be sitting in roughly the correct temperature water (around 150°F, plus or minus). Remember to not oversteep.

Enjoy!

Apple Noms

This post is only loosely related to gaming, but it is delicious.

I dedicate my Apple Noms to Fallout 3, which I was playing as I figured out the dessert's details. (I was going to call them "Apple Bombs," but that name is already taken by a mixed drink.)

You are invited to enjoy them as I do, as a winter snack after a long evening of gaming.

Apple Noms
Dessert. Generously serves 2.

Ingredients:

• 2 large apples
• "nomshell" crust:
• 1 c. whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/3 c. butter
• 1 tbsp. water
• "funpowder" filling:
• 2 tbsp. brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tbsp. butter

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 F.
• Peel and core the apples, then set them aside.
• In a medium bowl, mix the flour with 1/2 tsp. cinnamon.
• In a small bowl, soften 1/3 c. butter. (I zap it for 30 seconds in the microwave.) Add the butter to the flour mixture, and use a fork to gently toss and mix until evenly crumbly. Toss in the water the same way. At this point, the dough should be crumbly yet moist, and it should form a clump when pressed together.
• Coat the outsides of the apples in the crust. Use whatever method works for you. I like to press pieces of dough to pie-crust thickness and tessellate them onto the apples.
• Use any extra dough to plug the bases of the apples, especially if you cored them all the way through.
• In the small bowl, mix 1/2 tsp. cinnamon with the brown sugar. Spoon it into the empty cores of each apple.
• Divide 1 tbsp. (refrigerated) butter in half, and mash the pieces into the apple cores as well.
• Dust the apple tops with cinnamon.
• Bake the apples in a covered glass or ceramic casserole dish for 45 minutes at 350 F. Then take the lid off and bake them for 15 minutes more.
• Let the apples cool for a few minutes before carefully lifting them from the dish.

Troubleshooting tips:

• If your dough isn't holding together, add water 1 tsp. at a time until it does.
• If your dough is too sticky, generously coat your hands in flour when applying it to the apples, and don't worry about the extra flour that will end up on/in the crust.
• If you use smaller apples, you will end up with extra dough.
• If the filling isn't filling the apple cores, add more brown sugar as needed.
• The final appearance of this dessert varies. Every kind of apple does something different in the oven. Some hold together perfectly, some seem to puff up, and others shrink inside their nomshells.

Variations:

• You can make your favorite pie crust and use it instead of the hax0red crust I use.
• If you are using a sour varietal of apple, mix 1 tbsp. sugar into the crust, and/or add more brown sugar on top once it is stuffed.
• If you use unsalted butter, add a couple of pinches of salt (no more than 1/8 tsp) to the crust.
• You can use lard or shortening instead of butter, but please don't use margarine. 
• You don't have to peel the apples, but if you don't, it can be tougher to get the crust to stick.
• This recipe can be doubled or halved.